First time build, want to confirm I'm understanding the build process.

[EricSartor]

So I'm gunna build my first PC soon, and I just wanted to go over all the build steps I've learned from reading the past few days and see if I'm missing anything, or if anyone has any tips/point out anything I've missed, maybe I even have some of this stuff in the wrong order...I'll probably print this out and reference it during the build.

 

My build if anyone's curious: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/ericsartor/saved/#view=CMhP6h

 

Steps:

 

Work off a wooden table and ground self to sink drain pipe, no socks, wooden floor, anti-static bracelet attached to case,

place motherboard on anti-static mat and inspect inputs for damage/debris,

install CPU/cooler with thermal paste,

plug in power supply to wall/motherboard/CPU cooler,

power on by shorting the power pins and listen for RAM failure beep (to confirm motherboard and CPU are working) then power off,

install one stick of RAM into primary slot and power on, listen for video card failure beep (to confirm working RAM) then power off,

repeat for second stick of RAM,

use one stick of RAM to check other RAM slots with the same method, listening for video card failure beep,

install video card and power on, listen for POST beep then power off,

once POST is achieved, remove video card and install motherboard into case,

install motherboard IO shield,

install case fans,

install video card,

install SSDs,

install power supply and attach necessary cables (modular),

connect power cables to all components,

connect case USB/LED/button wires to motherboard headers,

connect SATA cables to SSDs,

connect video card to monitor, start up system, confirm POST,

install OS,

download drivers/update firmware,

update OS,

use monitoring software to verify internal temperatures and that all hardware is being recognized,

take a nap.

 

Just looking for some feedback to confirm I'm ready to build and know what I'm doing, I don't actually have my case yet so I'm killing time waiting for it to arrive...let me know if you think I'm missing something, or something is unnecessary, or maybe should be done earlier in the process, etc...thanks

[Guest]

Yup. Everything checks out. 

When I built mine I didn't do all that "checking out" shit but whatever floats your boat.

[TheRandomness]

You don't need to be so paranoid about static shock, I've built and rebuilt my own on carpet and it's still fine

[prakhar_nahar]

By the way, it's really a good gaming pc

[Guest]

Looks good. As other people have said though, you don'tr really need to do all that checking. But if you want to do it you can and I can understand you want everything to work before you put it together. Uhhh one thing to check though is does that motherboard have a speaker on it/come with a speaker? My asus z170 motherboard didn't have a speaker but it had led lights to indicate whether or not things are working. But I don't know too much about gigabyte boards. 

[EricSartor]

10 minutes ago, CaptainGunny said:

Looks good. As other people have said though, you don'tr really need to do all that checking. But if you want to do it you can and I can understand you want everything to work before you put it together. Uhhh one thing to check though is does that motherboard have a speaker on it/come with a speaker? My asus z170 motherboard didn't have a speaker but it had led lights to indicate whether or not things are working. But I don't know too much about gigabyte boards. 

Yeah I've only seen one guide that suggested I do those checks, but that's a fair point, I'm not sure if my mobo has a speaker or LEDs....I do feel like the tests are probably worth doing, because if something isn't working once everything is set up, I'll probably never figure it out...

[EricSartor]

15 minutes ago, prakhar_nahar said:

By the way, it's really a good gaming pc

Thanks!  Got a lot of help from the lovely people on this forum

[DHelios]

Depending on what kind of case you're building in, you may want to mount fans, PSU, SSDs and hard drives before placing the motherboard, so there's less stuff to get in your way. It also allows you more room to manage your fan cables. This is something you'll want to look at beforehand and determine for yourself. Sometimes these things are mounted in places that get in the way of placing the motherboard.

 

I personally add the graphics card last when I'm building. It tends to give you a lot more room to handle cables like those from the front panel, as you won't have to work around the graphics card.

 

Your checklist checks out, though. It's a very careful way to go about it, but if it's your first build it doesn't hurt to pay attention to every detail. I'm sure you'll be able to judge afterward what checks you will want to carry forward in future builds and which ones seem unnecessary to you.

[DHelios]

2 minutes ago, EricSartor said:

Yeah I've only seen one guide that suggested I do those checks, but that's a fair point, I'm not sure if my mobo has a speaker or LEDs....I do feel like the tests are probably worth doing, because if something isn't working once everything is set up, I'll probably never figure it out...

Some motherboards have a built-in speaker, but most just have headers you can connect a speaker to. This speaker may be supplied with your case, but sadly that doesn't seem to be a guarantee anymore nowadays. When things don't work, POST error beep codes are your best friend! I tend to keep a little speaker handy to test in case the motherboard and case I'm working with don't come with one.

[EricSartor]

3 minutes ago, DHelios said:

Depending on what kind of case you're building in, you may want to mount fans, PSU, SSDs and hard drives before placing the motherboard, so there's less stuff to get in your way. It also allows you more room to manage your fan cables. This is something you'll want to look at beforehand and determine for yourself. Sometimes these things are mounted in places that get in the way of placing the motherboard.

 

I personally add the graphics card last when I'm building. It tends to give you a lot more room to handle cables like those from the front panel, as you won't have to work around the graphics card.

 

Your checklist checks out, though. It's a very careful way to go about it, but if it's your first build it doesn't hurt to pay attention to every detail. I'm sure you'll be able to judge afterward what checks you will want to carry forward in future builds and which ones seem unnecessary to you.

It's a Mini ITX case, so adding the graphics card last probably would make more sense.  I'm under the impression I'll have to remove he drive cages to fit the video card in, so figuring out where to put the SSDs might have to happen after the mobo is in...not really sure to be honest, haven't seen the case yet  thanks for the input! 

[DHelios]

...every time I post I think of something new that I should've added. Your IO shield isn't on the list!

 

Before placing your motherboard, make sure you've mounted the motherboard's IO shield in the back of the case. Sounds simple, but I must admit I've forgotten it once or twice in the past.

 

If your motherboard's IO shield is of the fancy foam-backed kind, you're good. If it has the annoying little metal tabs, then there are two more checks after placing the motherboard:

 

- Make sure none of the metal tabs are sticking into ports (like USB ports)

- Make sure you're not profusely bleeding all over your new computer

[EricSartor]

1 minute ago, DHelios said:

...every time I post I think of something new that I should've added. Your IO shield isn't on the list!

 

Before placing your motherboard, make sure you've mounted the motherboard's IO shield in the back of the case. Sounds simple, but I must admit I've forgotten it once or twice in the past.

 

If your motherboard's IO shield is of the fancy foam-backed kind, you're good. If it has the annoying little metal tabs, then there are two more checks after placing the motherboard:

 

- Make sure none of the metal tabs are sticking into ports (like USB ports)

- Make sure you're not profusely bleeding all over your new computer

actually, i would've totally forgotten that, good catch.  now, in the scenario that I do end up bleeding all over my case, are there any chants I can utter to imbue my computer with demonic properties?

[DHelios]

30 minutes ago, EricSartor said:

actually, i would've totally forgotten that, good catch.  now, in the scenario that I do end up bleeding all over my case, are there any chants I can utter to imbue my computer with demonic properties?

<cut, bleed>

"****** I should've just bought a console!"

Fastest way to end up in hell